科研成果

抑郁症患者前脑岛亚区连接异常与躯体症状的关系


近些年,抑郁症等心理疾病逐渐成为影响国民身心健康的重大障碍。据WHO统计,抑郁症在全球约有3 亿患者,且患病率逐年增加,预计到2030 年将跃居所有疾病负担第二位。除了情绪低落、快感缺失等情绪症状外,躯体化症状也是抑郁症重要临床表现。躯体化症状与难治性抑郁症密切相关,是抑郁症常见的残留症状,造成沉重的经济负担。目前抑郁症躯体化症状的神经机制尚不明确,前脑岛在抑郁症及躯体症状中扮演重要角色,本研究采用前脑岛亚区为种子点进行功能连接分析,探索其在躯体化症状中的作用,并在电休克模型中进行了验证。


本研究纳入45例抑郁症患者和35例年龄、性别、教育年限匹配的正常被试,进行静息态磁共振扫描和临床症状评估(汉密尔顿抑郁量表、患者健康问卷躯体化症状量表),抑郁组被试进行电休克治疗后再进行一次扫描和评估。以前脑岛亚区(图一)为种子点进行功能连接分析,并将该指标在电休克之后予以验证。


与正常对照组相比,抑郁症患者左侧腹侧前脑岛与右侧眶额叶,右侧腹侧前脑岛与右侧眶额叶之间的连接减弱(图二),且与躯体症状的严重程度成负相关(图三)。在电休克之后,抑郁症患者以上减弱的功能连接明显增强(图四),且增强程度与躯体化症状的改善程度明显相关(图五)。

图三 Associations between vAI–OFC RSFC and clinical symptoms.

(a)There was a significant negative correlation between the left ventral anterior insula to right orbitofrontal cortex (LvAI–rOFC) RSFC and PHQ-15 score in depressive patients. 

(b) There was a negative correlation between RvAI–rOFC RSFC and PHQ-15 score in depressive patients at the trend level. 

(c) There was a significant negative correlation between LvAI–rOFC RSFC and HDRS score in depressive patients.

图五 Increased RSFC following ECT is associated with somatic symptom improvement. 

(a) There was a significant correlation between increased LvAI–rOFC connectivity and reduced PHQ-15 score (two-tailed). 

(b) There was a trend-level relationship between increased RvAI–rOFC connectivity and reduced PHQ-15 at the trend level (two-tailed, no significant correlation).


结论